Officer, Merchant Underwriter

Job Title: Officer, Merchant Underwritter

Department: Operations

Reports To: Manager, Card Operations

Location: Nairobi, Head Office

Job Grade: Contract Staff

Availability: Immediately

JOB PURPOSE

Our client in the banking sector requires a role to evaluate and mitigate financial and regulatory risk by performing comprehensive due diligence on new merchant applications for POS and E-commerce, ensuring alignment with CBK and POCAMLA requirements, assessing merchant business models, financial stability, and creditworthiness to prevent losses from fraud and chargebacks, and ensuring adherence to Visa, Mastercard, and China UnionPay scheme rules. The role also supports maintaining a healthy merchant portfolio through continuous monitoring of transaction patterns and periodic reviews of existing accounts post onboarding review.

RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Merchant Risk Assessment & Onboarding

• Conduct thorough KYC/KYB checks (CR12, KRA PIN, Director IDs).

• Analyze financial statements and bank records to determine financial viability.

• Perform targeted digital audits or site visits for high-risk merchants or those with historical chargeback ratios exceeding 1%.

• Review and assign accurate Merchant Category Codes (MCC) based on risk profiles.

• Coordinate with Risk and Compliance departments to ensure all anti-money laundering (AML) and fraud checks are cleared.

2. Decision Making & Risk Mitigation

• Approve, decline, or recommend conditional approvals for merchant accounts.

• Establish transaction limits, settlement cycles, and rolling reserves.

• Negotiate risk terms with Sales teams without compromising bank security.

3. Compliance & Regulatory Oversight

• Screen applicants against AML/CFT sanctions lists (FRC, OFAC, UN) and MATCH / VMSS.

• Ensure merchant compliance with PCI DSS data security standards.

• Maintain detailed audit trails for every underwriting decision.

4. Portfolio Monitoring & Reporting

• Monitor for "Transaction Laundering" and suspicious volume spikes.

• Investigate accounts with high chargeback ratios and initiate terminations if needed.

• Escalate high-risk trends to the Manager, Card Operations, Manager, Specialist Merchant Sales and Head Card, Payments

• Monitor dormant Terminals and recommend actions to various sales teams and Merchant analysts

KEY RELATIONSHIP

Internal: Card Operations Team, Merchant Acquiring team, E-commerce team, Sales, Fraud Investigation Unit, Finance, Legal, and IT.

External: Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), FRC, Card Schemes (Visa, MasterCard, CUP, Payment Processors, Merchants (as needed) Payment Processors, Merchants (as needed), and Merchants

Requirements

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Business, Law, or a related field.

• Minimum 2-3 years’ experience in risk management or merchant underwriting.

• Deep knowledge of Kenyan regulatory frameworks (POCAMLA, CBK Guidelines).

SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

• Strong analytical and investigative skills.

• High attention to detail and accuracy.

• Proficiency in risk-scoring models and data analysis tools.

• Ability to work independently and meet tight onboarding deadlines.

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.

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